Interview: CIIE opens doors to global opportunities for Singaporean businesses: Singapore Business Federation CEO

SHANGHAI, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- The China International Import Expo (CIIE) is helping Singaporean companies to tap into Chinese business networks and expand into markets across the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa, said Kok Ping Soon, CEO of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF).

"The beauty of the CIIE over so many years is that it is not just a gateway into China. For many of our businesses, at least, it is also a gateway to international markets," Kok told Xinhua.

This year's expo marks the ninth consecutive year that the SBF has organized Singaporean companies to participate. A delegation of 54 Singaporean businesses is attending the event.

Since their first participation in 2018, Singaporean exhibitors have recorded a cumulative trade volume of 533 million Singapore dollars (about 4.16 million U.S. dollars) through the expo, data from the SBF showed.

With exhibitors and business partners from around the world gathering in Shanghai, the expo offers Singaporean companies opportunities to connect not only with potential Chinese distributors and partners, but also with businesses that can help them reach markets that would otherwise be difficult to access, said Kok.

"China has such strong relations and ecosystems there," he said. "Many of our companies are able to latch onto that."

Kok noted that perceptions of China among international businesses have evolved over the years. "Many businesses used to look at China as just a big consumer market, and as a low-cost production base. But over the years, given the rapid development of China, that view has started to change."

On the consumer front, doing business in China is no longer simply about bringing overseas products into the country, he said. "Chinese consumers are very demanding and very sophisticated, and the rate of innovation in consumer goods is moving at a much faster pace in China than back home."

"So what you find now is that China is a source for trends and for ideas of new flavors that our businesses are getting from here and then bringing back to the home country," he said.

From a manufacturing point of view, he said, China is also evolving into "a source of innovation not just to serve the Chinese market but globally."

Kok said many multinational companies have established innovation headquarters in China to tap into its extensive supply chains and highly skilled workforce, developing products not only for Chinese consumers but also for markets in other countries.

Launched in 2018, the CIIE is the world's first national-level exhibition dedicated to imports. Kok noted that when the CIIE was debuted nine years ago, China was signalling to the world that it is opening up the Chinese consumer market to bring in more products.

"That continues to be very important for many companies including Singaporean ones," he said.

However, Kok pointed to a new changing demand in the Chinese market: Chinese consumers are becoming more discerning, with increasingly differentiated needs and a stronger preference for higher-quality products and services.

He noted that the changing demand was reflected in the products gaining traction at the CIIE. In food, for instance, healthier options with lower calorie content are attracting attention, while in cosmetics, consumers are increasingly looking beyond conventional products to seek anti-aging and anti-wrinkle solutions.

Such shifts reflect China's changing demographics and rising expectations for quality, he said. "We have to move according to the pace of the demographic changes in China."